Apocalypse now! In Beijing, smog levels have been described by officials as "crazy bad" on their Twitters, and the levels of air quality were beyond 500, which is the max limit of hazardous on the air level charts, according to the New York Times in their article "'Airpocalypse' Smog hits Beijing at dangerous levels." The article explains going outside in levels above 300 is not recommended.
And there's more: If you want to see the sun rise in Beijing, they have LED screens that show the sun rise. Check out Business Insider's article "The smog is so bad in Beijing you have to watch the sun rise on TV," and watch the video they posted. While the video is rather cheesin', it raises some serious issues, one of the scariest being "the season's first wave of extremely dangerous smog," implying that this is just the beginning.
An earlier article by the New York Times titled "Urbanites flee China's smog for blue skies" features a family that fled Guangzhou, a large city in the south, to escape the smog. The feature uses the term 'environmental refugees.'
As one article described, the scene is reminiscent of Blade Runner or perhaps the Matrix. As pollution increases, gases are trapped in the atmosphere, acting as an insulator, and, just like a greenhouse, the temperature keeps rising. But that's a heavier topic for another time.
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